Soybeans, Poverty and Inequality in the Brazilian Amazon

Weinhold, Diana; Killick, Evan; Reis, Eustáquio José

doi:10.1016/j.worlddev.2012.11.016

Cited by 72 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 8 publications

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“…The main question addressed by this investigation is if agricultural expansion brings socioeconomic development, meaning not only growth in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), but also better income, health and education (HDI) to municipalities where it takes place [8]. This question relates to the general perception that, by supporting commodity crops such as soy, local inequality and poverty are accentuated, since such crops require large areas and less labor per hectare [35,36].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For instance, agriculture intensification in the State of Mato Grosso, with soy and double-cropping (e.g., soy followed by maize or cotton) has been a true engine of lasting socioeconomic development [6,7]. Weinhold et al [8] and Tristich and Arvor [9] broaden this type of analysis from the state level to the Brazilian Amazon region, concluding that socioeconomic indicators have improved with agriculture intensification, without a direct relationship with deforestation, refuting the hypothesis of boom-and-bust development. Garret and Rausch [4] included all municipalities of Brazil in their analysis, grouping them according to prevalent land cover: soy, sugarcane, cattle and nonagricultural municipalities.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In addition, monocultures like soy require the heavy use of agrochemicals that have not been properly evaluated so far [16]. Soy is associated with large-scale agriculture [17], leading to an increase in land concentration and income inequality [4,7,8,10].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Soy Expansion and Socioeconomic Development in Municipalities of Brazil

Martinelli

Batistella

Silva

et al. 2017

Land

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Soy occupies the largest area of agricultural land in Brazil, spreading from southern states to the Amazon region. Soy is also the most important agricultural commodity among Brazilian exports affecting food security and land use nationally and internationally. Here we pose the question of whether soy expansion affects only economic growth or whether it also boosts socioeconomic development, fostering education and health improvements in Brazilian municipalities where it is planted. To achieve this objective, we divided more than 5000 municipalities into two groups: those with >300 ha of soy (soy municipalities) and those with <300 ha of soy (non-soy municipalities). We compared the Human Development Index (HDI) and the Gini coefficient for income for these two groups of municipalities in 1991, 2000, and 2010. We made such comparison at the municipality level for the whole country, but we also grouped the municipalities by major geographical regions and states. We found that the HDI was higher in soy municipalities, especially in the agricultural frontier. That effect was not so clear in more consolidated agricultural regions of the country. Soy municipalities also had a higher Gini coefficient for income than non-soy municipalities. We concluded that soy could be considered a precursor of socioeconomic development under certain conditions; however, it also tends to be associated with an increase in income inequality, especially in the agricultural frontier.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Soy Expansion and Socioeconomic Development in Municipalities of Brazil

Martinelli

Batistella

Silva

et al. 2017

Land

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“…Currently, these ecosystems are critically threatened by agricultural expansion for internationally traded commodities such as soybeans, palm oil, and beef (Hansen et al 2013). As this multibillion dollar segment of the global economy has grown it has been accompanied by an increasing concentration of the tropical land base into fewer large farms (Pacheco 2012a, VanWey et al 2013, Weinhold et al 2013). Yet, a majority of the farmers in humid forests remain impoverished, often depending on subsistence agriculture for their livelihoods (Sunderlin et al 2003).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Explaining the persistence of low income and environmentally degrading land uses in the Brazilian Amazon

Garrett¹,

Gardner²,

Morello³

et al. 2017

E&S

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ABSTRACT. Tropical forests continue to be plagued by the dual sustainability challenges of deforestation and rural poverty. We seek to understand why many of the farmers living in the Brazilian Amazon, home to the world's largest tropical agricultural-forest frontier, persist in agricultural activities associated with low incomes and high environmental damage. To answer this question, we assess the factors that shape the development and distribution of agricultural activities and farmer well-being in these frontiers. Our study utilizes a uniquely comprehensive social-ecological dataset from two regions in the eastern Brazilian Amazon and employs a novel conceptual framework that highlights the interdependencies between household attributes, agricultural activities, and well-being. We find that livestock production, which yields the lowest per hectare incomes, remains the most prevalent land use in remote areas, but many examples of high income fruit, horticulture, and staple crop production exist on small properties, particularly in peri-urban areas. The transition to more profitable land uses is limited by lagging supply chain infrastructure, social preferences, and the fact that income associated with land use activities is not a primary source of perceived life quality. Instead subjective well-being is more heavily influenced by the nonmonetary attributes of a rural lifestyle (safety, tranquility, community relations, etc.). We conclude that transitions away from low-income land uses in agricultural-forest frontiers of the Brazilian Amazon need not abandon a land-focused vision of development, but will require policies and programs that identify and discriminate households based on a broader set of household assets, cultural attributes, and aspirations than are traditionally applied. At a broader scale, access to distant markets for high value crops must be improved via investments in processing, storage, and marketing infrastructure.

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“…The world soybean production increased by 4.6% annually from 1961 to 2007 and reached average annual production of 217.6million tons in 2005-2007(Masuda & Goldsmith, 2014. Weinhold and Killick (2011) reported that, the increase of soy production both reduces poverty indicators and raises median rural incomes. Soybean cultivation is highly concentrated geographically, with only four countries-USA, Brazil, Argentine and China-accounting for almost 90% of wold output.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Intercroping Maize-Soybean on Grain Quality Traits in Kenya

Pierre¹,

Kinama²,

Olubayo³

et al. 2018

JAS

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An experiment was conducted in Kenya to determine the effect of intercropping maize-soybean on soybean grain quality traits. A randomized complete block design replicated three times with seven treatments was used. Data were collected and analysed for soybean protein content, oil content and dry matter while grain size was done for maize and soybean. Data were subjected to ANOVA and means separated using LSD 0.05 . The results showed that TGX1990-5F variety recorded high protein content (p ≤ 0.05) in sole crop compared to intercropping with 42.96% and 38.4% respectively while SB19 obtained 36.57% and 40.41% of protein between sites for the first season. A bout the second season, TGX1990-5F gave 40.84% of protein compared to 31.98% for GAZELLE in intercrop at both sites. GAZELLE showed higher oil content followed by TGX1990-5F and SB19 was the last in both seasons. TGX1990-5F showed higher dry matter followed by GAZELLE and SB19 was the last in intercrop. In addition, GAZELLE a local variety showed greater size than SB19 in both rainy seasons. Intercropping affected slightly the protein content, oil content and gain size than sole crop but it did not affect the dry matter in both seasons.Thus, TGX1990-5F can be recommended to small-scale farmers for intercropping with maize because it produced higher value of protein and small-scale farmers could use it to fight mal nutrition. GAZELLE variety can be also recommended for oil production. Maize grain size was not affected by intercropping system.

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Soybeans, Poverty and Inequality in the Brazilian Amazon

Cited by 72 publications

References 8 publications

Soy Expansion and Socioeconomic Development in Municipalities of Brazil

Soy Expansion and Socioeconomic Development in Municipalities of Brazil

Explaining the persistence of low income and environmentally degrading land uses in the Brazilian Amazon

Effect of Intercroping Maize-Soybean on Grain Quality Traits in Kenya

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